Department for Transport

Channel Tunnel

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assess the effectiveness of "Operation Stack", the parking of lorries on the M20 Motorway, in the event of serious disruption at the Channel Tunnel.

Baroness Kramer: The Government are taking steps to assess the effectiveness of Operation Stack and on 22 January, My Rt Hon Friend, the Minister of State for Transport, the Hon Member for South Holland and the Deepings (John Hayes) met with a number of Honourable Members from the Kent area to discuss Operation Stack in more detail. As a result, officials are: 1) working with key partners to determine the feasibility of a number of lorry parks and any new or innovative approaches to reduce the impact of Operation Stack; and 2) investigating plans for additional parking capacity being undertaken by Dover Harbour Board, Eurotunnel and other developers.

Railways: Suicide

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many suicides there have been on railways in each of the last 10 years; (2) what is their assessment of the effect of suicide prevention on these trends; and (3) what further steps they are taking to prevent suicides on railways.

Baroness Kramer: The statistics on railway suicides in each of the last 10 years are:YearSuicides2004/051932005/062252006/072242007/082072008/092182009/102382010/112072011/122492012/132462013/14279 A comprehensive national rail suicide prevention programme is in place which is managed by Network Rail on behalf of the industry and includes a contract with the Samaritans. The programme has been evaluated by RSSB (formerly the Rail Standards & Safety Board) and, whilst the number of suicides had increased in the past few years, this is in line with an increase at a national level. The evaluation has indicated that the programme has been particularly successful in bringing together a wide range of different organisations in planning, promoting and delivering complex activities at both national and local levels. The training of over 5,600 front line staff has also seen a significant increase in the number of interventions, for example, the British Transport Police recorded a total of 631 interventions that have been made in situations judged as having the potential to result in suicide during 2013/14. The Department for Transport continues to support the programme and has provided funding to extend the Samaritans contract until 2019. Network Rail is expanding its work in this area and is currently exploring further innovations such as the use of blue lighting at stations following successful trials in Japan.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Boko Haram

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether Boko Haram has recently been emulating the approaches adopted by ISIS, for instance the regular use of propaganda videos.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Recent public messages from Boko Haram appear to have contained similar elements to those found in some Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) videos. While Boko Haram and ISIL have made reference to one another in their propaganda, we have seen no evidence of operational links between the two groups.

Boko Haram

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Boko Haram leader Abubaker Shekan's support for a Sunni Islamic State and his use of the flag of ISIS and its chants.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Recent public messages from Boko Haram appear to have contained similar elements to those found in some Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) videos. While Boko Haram and ISIL have made reference to one another in their propaganda, we have seen no evidence of operational links between the two groups.

Burma

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the government of Burma about reported human trafficking involving removing Rohingya to other countries in the region.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK makes regular representations to the Government of Burma about the living conditions faced by the Rohingya in Rakhine State, which is the key driver of their migration to third countries. We have also raised it with our international partners in the region. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), discussed the trafficking of the Rohingya people with the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister at the Asia-Europe meeting in Milan in October last year. We have also raised with the Thai authorities the importance of treating Rohingya refugees in Thailand in line with international humanitarian norms and standards. We continue to make it clear to the Government of Burma that the humanitarian situation in Rakhine must be addressed as a matter of priority. The UK is one of the largest bilateral aid donors to Rakhine, providing £12m since 2012 for humanitarian assistance.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they used the Sinn Fein network to deliver post to "on the runs"; and whether they have any proposals to use that network again.

Baroness Randerson: As the report by Lady Justice Hallett makes clear, names were provided to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) by Sinn Féin for consideration under the OTR administrative scheme. The administrative process did not confirm current addresses for these individuals. As the names were provided by Sinn Féin and the NIO were not aware of addresses for these individuals, Sinn Féin were expected to pass on the individual letter to the named recipient.We have no plans to use this means of communication again. The administrative scheme, set up by the previous government, is now at an end.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Bank Services: St Agnes

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to ensure the continued presence of commercial retail banking services in St Agnes, Cornwall; and whether they will investigate proposals by Barclays to close the only remaining retail banking branch in that area.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Officials at the Department for Business have discussed with Barclays the rationale for the proposed closure of its branch in St Agnes. Ultimately, however, the decision on whether to retain a branch in the town is a matter for the management of the bank who will need to balance customer interests, market competition and other commercial factors.   The Government, nonetheless, recognises that bank branch closures can have a significant impact on customers, particularly vulnerable customers such as the elderly, the disabled, those on low incomes, and small businesses. It is therefore pressing the banking sector to finalise a new branch closure protocol.   The Government is also clear that there is an important role to play for Post Office in maintaining communities’ physical access to banking services. Barclays (and most other banks) have commercial arrangements in place with Post Office allowing personal current account customers to withdraw money and deposit cash and cheques at Post Office branches, including the one in St Agnes. Approximately 95% of UK personal account customers are already able to access banking services at the Post Office, and negotiations are underway to increase this coverage to closer to 100%.

New Businesses: Apprentices

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to link the Start Up Loan initiative for small businesses with local apprenticeship schemes.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: There are currently no direct links between apprenticeship schemes and Start Up Loans. However, the Start Up Loans Company (SULCo) is working to build links with local apprenticeship programmes through engagement with the Local Enterprise Partnerships. In addition, SULCo are also mapping existing activity on the ground through its Delivery Partner network.

Art Works: Copyright

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent action against the artist Luc Tuymans, what is the current law in the United Kingdom regarding the copying or reproduction by fine artists of work by other artists, including fine artists and photographers and other image-makers through media such as drawing, painting or the use of collage.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Current UK copyright law is found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended). It protects the rights of creators, including fine artists and photographers, enabling them to stop people copying either the whole or any substantial part of their work, either directly or indirectly, without the permission of the artist or photographer. This may include, among other things, the reproduction of a photograph in a painting.   However, UK law, in line with the European copyright framework, also provides a number of exceptions to copyright, where, in limited circumstances, some copying may be permitted without requiring permission and without infringing copyright. For example, one UK exception to copyright permits 'fair dealing' with a work for the purposes of caricature, parody or pastiche. European law is clear that the application of that exception in any particular case must strike a fair balance between the interests and rights of rights holder on the one hand and the freedom of expression of the user on the other, taking all the circumstances into account.   In the recent case against the artist Luc Tuymans, the Belgian court ruled that it was not satisfied that the reproduction in that particular case satisfied the criteria for ‘parody.’ Parody is an autonomous concept in European copyright law.

Department for International Development

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the deaths of children from hypothermia in Gaza, whether they intend to suggest the provision of alternative forms of housing there which do not require cement, for example the yurt.

Baroness Northover: For people whose homes were destroyed during the Gaza conflict, partners are providing several transitional shelter solutions including collective shelters, rented accommodation and prefabricated units, adequate in the short term. The more durable solution for shelter needs is the reconstruction of people’s homes. We have provided £9 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency’s Gaza Flash Appeal, all of which has been used for rental subsidies and reconstruction. In addition, we are supporting the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism which is helping to get construction material into Gaza so that people can rebuild their homes.

Department for Education

HIV Infection

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the Department of Health and the Department for Education are working together to tackle the stigma attached to HIV.

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports that two HIV positive children were excluded from a school in the United Kingdom last year on the basis of their HIV status, what steps they are taking to prevent the stigmatisation of schoolchildren with HIV.

Lord Nash: Children and young people with medical conditions should receive the support they need to enable them to participate in a full education. The Government has introduced a new duty at Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 under which school governing bodies must make arrangements to support such pupils. All exclusions must be for a disciplinary reason and follow the legal exclusion process. No pupil should be excluded from school because of their HIV status.   Schools may wish to teach about HIV through subjects such as personal, social health and economic education (PSHE), or in relation to particular events. The statutory Sex and Relationship Guidance includes the requirement to teach about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted infections are also covered as part of the national curriculum for science at key stage 3.   All schools must have behaviour policies to tackle bullying and the Department for Education is providing charitable organisations with £4 million (2013-15) to tackle all forms of bullying.

GCE AS-level

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposals to change AS levels on broadening access for students to Russell Group universities.

Lord Nash: Over 80% of students with two or more A levels go on to higher education [1] , and yet many do not have the skills they need for degree-level study. Research by Cambridge Assessment [2] found that over 50% of lecturers think that new undergraduates are not well prepared for degree-level study.   By removing the unnecessary external assessment in year 12 and giving students the opportunity to develop greater intellectual maturity across a full two-year A level course, for example by making stronger links between topics, we are supporting students to develop the skills they need for university.   Schools should continue to support students to take the qualifications that are right for them. The AS level qualification will remain available to students wanting to add breadth to their programmes of study. And it will remain possible for students to take the AS level qualification before making firm decisions about their A level subjects.  [1] 2012 Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record dataset, matched onto 2010 KS5 database.[2] Irenka Suto, Cambridge Assessment (April 2012), What are the impacts of qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds on higher education? A survey of 633 university lecturers  http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/images/116010-cambridge-assessment-he-research-survey-of-lecturers-executive-summary.pdf

Primary Education: Admissions

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to re-evaluate the school starting age in the light of the later starting age in other European countries.

Lord Nash: We do not currently have any plans to review the school starting age in England. The majority of children in countries from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development attend non-compulsory pre-school education before the age of five. We believe it is important to ensure that young children receive high-quality age-appropriate education. To this end, all types of setting for children aged from birth up until the end of the school year in which they turn five are required to deliver the early years foundation stage curriculum.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Suicide

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of people committing suicide whilst in prison.

Lord Faulks: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and the Government is committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. Building on this, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources for safer custody work in prisons and at regional level. These staff support safer custody work in prisons and share good practice across establishments. NOMS will be conducting a review of the operation of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork system (the case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk) in 2015. Young adults are a particularly challenging and vulnerable group, and that is why we have commissioned an independent review into the deaths of 18 to 24-year-olds in prison custody. This review will report in the Spring. We continue to explore the reasons for the recent increase in the number of self-inflicted deaths, but there is no simple explanation for it. Strenuous efforts are made to learn from every self-inflicted death, and we have accepted and acted on the vast majority of recommendations from recent investigations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

Employment Tribunals Service

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when and why they made the decision to stop publishing annual statistical information, including raw data percentages and outcomes, on employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal cases.

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they undertook consultations prior to taking the decision to stop publishing annual statistical data on employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal cases; if so, with whom they consulted and what were the results; and whether the consultation was published.

Lord Faulks: The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistical data on employment tribunals and summary data for employment tribunal appeal cases. The latest statistics can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2014 Detailed statistics on employment appeal tribunal cases are still published annually but no longer released as a standalone publication. They are included within annual tables published in September each year alongside the Tribunal Statistics Quarterly Bulletin. The latest statistics can be found at the following link in the spreadsheet named Employment and EAT tribunal statistics: 2013 to 2014.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2014

Ministry of Defence

War Memorials

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Royal Naval division monument on Horseguards will be refurbished in time for the Gallipoli centenary in April this year.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Government has no plans to refurbish this monument.

Warships: Shipbuilding

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect to make an announcement about the future of naval shipbuilding in Portsmouth before the general election.

Lord Astor of Hever: On 21 January 2015, the Defence Secretary announced a shortlist of three companies to make use of the shiphalls at HM Naval Base Portsmouth. Negotiations will be taken forward over the coming weeks to determine which company or companies will occupy the facilities.

Home Office

Domestic Violence

Baroness Gale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 25 November 2014 (HC Deb, col 772) and the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 19 December 2014 (HL3457), when the National Oversight Group chaired by the Home Secretary, regarding the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, known as Clare's Law, will report; and how the report will be publicised.

Lord Bates: Following the publication of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC’s) review on the police response to domestic abuse, the Home Secretary is driving a package of measures to improve the police response to victims of this terrible crime. The Home Secretary has established a national oversight group, which she is chairing, to monitor and drive activity against the recommendations of HMIC’s review. The first update of the Group’s activities to date was published on the Gov.uk website in January and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-oversight-group-on-domestic-violence-report . Further updates will be published in due course. The Government is committed to supporting the police in tackling domestic violence and abuse, to bring offenders to justice and to ensure victims have the support they need to rebuild their lives. Separate to the work of the National Oversight Group on Domestic Abuse, we are also committed to reviewing this year how Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme have been rolled out across England and Wales since March 2014. This will be published in the Violence Against Women and Girls report, which will be published ahead of the General Election.

Counter-terrorism

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are seeking an agreed European policy on limiting the recruitment of volunteers for war and terror, together with the management and reintegration of those who return.

Lord Bates: The UK is working closely with partners across Europe to ensure we are doing all we can to dissuade and prevent people from travelling overseas for terrorism purposes. We need coordinated action on this shared threat, and we are seeking agreement at EU level on measure that will help tackle it. We take the risk of people returning from jihad in countries of conflict very seriously, and all decisions on returnees are taken on a case-by-case basis. Option include prosecution or referral to the Government's Channel programme for individuals vulnerable to radicalisation.

Female Genital Mutilation

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 January (HL3454), whether the female genital mutilation community engagement initiative funded by the Home Office covers the whole of the United Kingdom or just England and Wales.

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 January (HL3454), whether the new female genital mutilation unit is conducting nationwide outreach across the whole of the United Kingdom or just England and Wales.

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 January (HL3454), what process is in place to handle enquiries received by the female genital mutilation unit from individuals or organisations based in Scotland.

Lord Bates: The Government is clear that female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.The Home Office has provided £100,000 through the FGM Community Engagement Initiative. The fund was open to organisations across all parts of the UK to bid for up to £10,000 to carry out community work to raise awareness of FGM amongst women already affected by FGM, young at-risk girls, as well as men in the community.The Government’s specialist cross-Government FGM Unit launched on 5 December. The Unit will provide outreach support to local areas in England and Wales, act as a hub for effective practice, work with the police and develop cross-government policies on FGM.The Unit does receive enquires from individuals and organisations in Scotland which are dealt with through appropriate consultation with partners in Scotland.

Syria

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regarding the number of Syrian refugees in Syria’s neighbouring countries who have been identified as being in need of resettlement.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why Syrian refugees are crossing the Mediterranean Sea in order to seek asylum in European Union member states.

Lord Bates: The majority of refugees displaced from Syria, an estimated 3.8 million people, remain in countries neighbouring Syria. That is why the Government has committed £700 million to the emergency response in the region, the second largest bilateral contribution after the USA, helping hundreds of thousands of people in need. We have not undertaken a formal assessment of the motivation for Syrian migrants to try to reach the European Union, or the routes they choose to get here. However, given the scale of the crisis in Syria and the hardship and human suffering it has caused, it is to be expected that some Syrians will seek to leave the region by whatever routes are available.With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the majority of those displaced, rather than larger scale resettlement. We have made our position on this clear in relevant discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for example at the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014. We also liaise regularly with the UNHCR at a working level about the relocation of particularly vulnerable displaced Syrians to the UK under the UK’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme.

Police: Complaints

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the handling of police complaints.

Lord Bates: The Government sees the effective handling of police complaints as critical to public trust in the police. On the 22 July, the Home Secretary launched an end to end review of the entire police complaints system, including the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the local role played by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).The review looked at the complaints system from start to finish and for all complaints from the most minor to the most serious. Immediately following the review a public consultation on proposals for a reformed police complaints system was launched, which concluded on 5 February.The proposals include giving a greater role to PCCs in the handling of complaints, ensuring the recording of all complaints, introducing the concept of super-complaints which is used in the financial sector and simplifying the terminology for complaint resolutions. The Government is also committed to providing Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the IPCC with the tools they need to provide necessary scrutiny of the police complaints system. The Home Secretary has announced that the IPCC would be expanded to enable it to take on all ‘serious and sensitive’ investigations involving the police.The proposals would make the complaints system more independent of the police, easier for the public to follow, more focused on resolving complaints locally, and provide a simpler system of appeals.The Government will formally respond shortly.

UK Border Force

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the present numerical strength of the United Kingdom Border Force employed at (1) Heathrow, and (2) Gatwick, airports; and whether they have plans to increase that strength.

Lord Bates: The requested information has not been released as it is Border Force policy not to release port-specific staff numbers on grounds of national security.

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in the light of the uploading of photographs of faces by police forces in England and Wales onto a facial recognition database despite a previous court ruling that it could be unlawful.

Lord Bates: The use and retention of custody photographs taken by the police is a complex issue and needs careful consideration of the balance between public protection and civil liberties. The Government is reviewing the framework within which the police use these custody images, and expects to be able to report in the Spring.

Wales Office

Fracking: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect a response from (1) the Government of Wales, and (2) each of the political parties in the National Assembly for Wales, in relation to the issue of responsibility for the licensing of onshore fracking for gas to be transferred to the National Assembly.

Baroness Randerson: The Government is working with the four main political parties in Wales to agree a consensus on the future of Welsh devolution by St David’s Day. This includes consideration of whether Smith Commission proposals such as the devolution of the licensing of onshore oil and gas extraction warrant further consideration in the context of Wales.

HM Treasury

National Savings Bonds: Pensioners

Lord Naseby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will undertake a review of the difficulties experienced at the launch of National Savings and Investments pensioner bonds with particular attention to the failure of the website.

Lord Deighton: The introduction of the 65+ “Pensioner” Bond has seen the biggest sale of any retail financial product in Britain’s modern history, with over £7.5 billion sold to date. Demand in the first few days was exceptionally high but tens of thousands of savers did successfully purchase bonds during this period, and hundreds of thousands have done so since. National Savings & Investments (NS&I) was quick to respond to the issues faced by some customers in the opening days, for example by adding further call centre staff to manage the high volume of calls. The website is now fully operational, calls are being answered with minimal waiting times, and NS&I now have the capacity to field remaining demand pressures.   Following this unprecedented demand, the government has also extended the availability of the bonds up to 15 May, to ensure all pensioners aged 65 and over who want to benefit from these bonds will have time to do so.   Low interest rates have played an important part in stimulating the recovery. But there are those – especially pensioners – who rely on a reasonable rate of interest on their savings. These new savings bonds pay a market leading rate and are designed to help support those who rely on their savings in retirement.

Income Tax

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many taxpayers in the United Kingdom had taxable income in the bands (1) £10,000 to £20,000, (2) £20,001 to £30,000, (3) £30,001 to £50,000, (4) £50,001 to £100,000, (5) £100,001 to £250,000, (6) £250,001 to £500,000, (7) £500,001 to £1 million, and (8) over £1 million, in the last year for which records are available.

Lord Deighton: Estimates of taxpayer numbers broken down by total income for the 2012-13 tax year are published in Table 3.3 of HMRC’s Personal Incomes statistics[1].   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  [1] This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-incomes-statistics. 



Taxpayers broken down by income 
(Word Document, 16.93 KB)

Cabinet Office

Select Committee Reports

Lord Hannay of Chiswick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements have been made to publish regularly a list of the time they have taken to respond to reports from Select Committees of this House.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: Following my answer on 20 January to the oral question from the Noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, I have discussed arrangements with the Chairman of Committees in his capacity as Chairman of the Liaison Committee. In order better to inform the House about the time taken to respond to reports from Lords Select Committees, we have agreed that further data on response times will now be collected and made available by the House of Lords Committee Office. That information will be included in future reports of the Liaison Committee on investigative select committee activity.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

National Gallery

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Director of the National Gallery about the transfer of Gallery employees to a private company.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Department was informed of the National Gallery's proposal to outsource visitor services and security in July 2014. The National Gallery operates at arm's length from the Department, and as such has responsibility for its own staffing and service arrangements.

Museums and Galleries: Pay

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy in respect of the payment of at least the level of the "Living Wage" to staff employed in public museums and galleries.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government supports the London Living Wage, where possible. However, the Department's sponsored Museums and Galleries operate at arm's length from the Department, and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing and service arrangements, including wage levels. Those museums which are not sponsored by the Department make such staffing arrangements as they feel is appropriate.

Department of Health

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 January (HL4043), why researchers "believe that being able to undertake the techniques in treatment would provide a greater understanding of the way in which mitochondrial DNA mutations are passed down from mother to child" if they are already confident that the risks of mitochondrial disease in the next generation will be low; which researchers have suggested such investigations, as described in paragraph 1.11 of their February 2014 consultation document entitled "Mitochondrial Donation"; how they propose to investigate how mutations vary in each of the different cells of the resulting children; and what additional information the proposed investigations would be expected to provide that was not previously described in Fertility and Sterility in 2003 (Volume 80, Supplement 3, p56).

Earl Howe: Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to child but normal embryonic development can affect how mitochondria are distributed in the different cells and tissues of the body. We are advised that developing mitochondrial donation techniques will help our understanding of this normal phenomenon.   Paragraph 1.11 of the consultation document on the draft mitochondrial donation regulations was informed by researchers who provided evidence to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority convened Expert Panel that conducted three scientific reviews of the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial disease through assisted conception.   We are also advised that the techniques used to investigate how mutations vary in each of the different cells of the resulting children would be identical to those already used to evaluate mitochondrial DNA.   The research abstract in Fertility and Sterility in 2003 (Volume 80, Supplement 3, p56) does not present experimental details.